Life Travelogue

Let's not forget...

2010-07-10T01:24:00.004+08:00

Life, health, the faculties of hearing and seeing, two hands and two legs, water, air, food - these are some of the more visible blessings in the world, while the greatest of all blessings is that of Islam and correct guidance. What would you say to someone who offered you large sums of money in return for your eyes, your ears, your legs, your hands, or your heart? How great is your wealth in reality? By not being thankful, you do not render justice to Allah's countless favors. - 'Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni

On the day I discovered there is a ganglion cyst on my left foot, I realized:
Be able to walk, to run, to jump, to dance freely with no pain on the feet is truly a blessing from God. Let not forget about this.

My Monochrome Beijing

2010-05-03T02:34:00.015+08:00

Wander around Beijing in the winter, everything seem freeze in time. With it richness historical background, sometimes can't help but has the illusion of criss-crossing the modern and history lives.

Hou Hai Bei Yan

This is the area of Hou Hai, infront of the Former Residence of Soong Ching Ling. It is a quiet area by the side of the lake with attractive hutongs. It was snowed the day before, the weather was colder than expected. But there was still a group of winter swimmers swam in the lake.

Soong Ching Ling, one of the legendary women in China history. It is love that brought her together with an extraordinary man - Sun Yat Sen. There goes the lifelong adventure of upholding her husband's ideals of liberty and equality within China's political and social arenas.

Garbage collector at Xian Shan Gong Yuan

Splendid view of Forbidden City from Jing Shan Park

Forbidden City serves as home to the Ming and Qing emperors. It had witness the glory and decline of the emperors for almost 500 hundred years.

Recently, Forbidden City has reminds me of the last emperor - Pu Yi. Ever since he ascended the throne at aged 2 years old and 10 months, he was fated to live life that out of ordinary, a life that can never be controlled by him.

Pu Yi started as the emperor for Qing dynasty around 2 years old, was expelled from the Forbidden City at 18 years old. At aged of 28, he became the puppet emperor of Manchukuo. At the end of World War II, he was captured by Soviet Red Army as war criminal for 5 years. He was repatriated and re-educated in war criminals management centre for 10 years. At aged of 53, he was declared reformed.

Later in his life, he visited Forbidden City once. This time, he is no longer an emperor but just a regular civil of The People's Republic of China.

Deer at Beijing Zoo

Some animals are very alert with me walking closer and camera pointed to them. They usually ran away before I managed to have a single shoot. But there was exception form this little cute deer.

View from Mutianyu Great Wall's watchtower

In the misty weather the visibility is poor but the view of Great Wall is still spectacular. I always wonder how the people built it back then many centuries ago.

Qin Shi Huang - the first emperor of Qin dynasty and also a pivotal figure in Chinese history. He is the emperor who unified China, standardized the Chinese scripts & units of measurements, undertook gigantic projects like Great Wall & Lingqu Canal, etc... All these were very impactful in the development of China history.

He is too 'well-known' with his great atrocities like eliminated hundred schools of thought, buried alive scholars & burned books that previously existed, in search of elixir of life, built of mausoleum that guarded by a life-sized Terracotta Army, etc... All was executed at the cost of countless lives for achieving his personal agenda.

Senior citizens infront of Tiananmen Square

Are they the survivors of Cultural Revolution?

Area around Forbidden City Guard Canal

Walking around the area outside the Forbidden City, it is peace and tranquility. What a contrast with the racket inside the Forbidden City.

Memoir

2010-04-02T03:19:00.002+08:00

So far yet so close, we have never been apart

Eat, Play, Sleep, Think

2010-03-20T17:56:00.002+08:00

"The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it." ~ Tuesdays with Morrie

Life is too short to live under others' expectations for who you should be, how you should behave, lifestyle that you should be resided. They would tell you what you should do to become successful in life.

The succeeded life is perhaps no other than status gained in community or work place, certain amount of savings in the bank, a stable job or potential career that provides financial security, started up a family before the biological clock is alarming. Once you have all these, you are considered quite a successful person in the community.

As your parents, your friends, your neighbours or even your grandparents are following this platform. It made us believe that this is one and only way to define 'success' in life. Because the majority is doing so, you think you have to do the same things too. Never cross your mind is that there is alternative, or wonder this culture is what you want. Too often it is because the culture said so, it is better for us to obey like most of the people. Rather than ponder over.

Life is short. If you like the culture, you buy it! If you don't think it works, don't buy it. If it works for you, please remember it doesn't mean it works for everybody as well. If your friend is strong enough to against the culture because it doesn't suit them, can you please leave them alone?!

God is

2010-03-11T01:57:00.002+08:00

God is in the snowflakes in the air. He is also in the salts that keep snow from refreezing.
God is in the blooming roses in the garden. He is also in the wind that blows away withered roses.

20 years

2010-03-07T02:47:00.003+08:00

What is the thing that you have been doing for the past 20 years?

At first you didn't / never expect it would be succeeded. Along the way, there were doubts and encouragements. Most importantly, deep down inside your heart you knew: this is it! The mixture feelings gave you the strength to carry on. Time flies and there has been 20 years since the day you started. And now, you hope you can go on with it till as long as you can.

Blissful Inspiration...

2010-02-22T20:26:00.007+08:00

Life attracts life

I Am Beautiful Just The Way I Am

2010-02-07T15:22:00.007+08:00

Every being is beautiful in its own unique way. This is what makes the world go round and worth explore. For this is how God made the world, we are gifted to appreciate the differences among each others with our heart.

Each and Every Minute...

2010-02-07T02:08:00.002+08:00

By nurturing a kid with love and teach them to be a better person. This is the great gift to the world.

One day you will...

2009-12-02T19:04:00.003+08:00

One day you will ask me which one is more important...
My life or yours?
I will say mine and you will walk away not knowing that you are my life.
~ Khalil Gibran

Blissful Inspiration...

2009-11-23T16:06:00.006+08:00

Knock! Knock! Who's there?

Blissful Inspiration...

2009-11-16T16:39:00.006+08:00

Pay abit of attention to your surrounding and you will be amazed by the nature.

How Are You Doing

2009-09-29T22:01:00.004+08:00

Hey dearie... How are you doing? Thanks for your concerns... I am doing something by doing 'nothing'... breathing... eating... sleeping... praying... learning... embracing life... counting my blessings... and I am doing fine... xoxo, me

Blissful Inspiration...

2009-09-22T21:58:00.006+08:00

Father and Son

2009-09-17T20:51:00.003+08:00

Captured this photo on a sunny Sunday, father and son were spending their time on fishing. I remembered when I was a kid, I spent lots of time with my daddy too.

Every Sunday evening, we would go somewhere. Usually we end up in the shopping mall that was nearby our house and we went home with toys that brought smile to my face. Besides our weekly outing, we left our footprints at Genting Highlands, Zoo Negara, Port Dickson...

I remembered one of BOH's TV commercial back in 80's, with the song - What A Wonderful World. He was there explained to me women who carried the bamboo basket at their back was picking tea leaves for living.

Sadly, daddy often missed out getting captured in our childhood and family photos - my 1st year old birthday party, our holidays, our CNY at granny's house, brother's 1st day of secondary school, my kindergarten graduation day... We have lots of photos, photos of all of us but without him. Coz he was too busy out there to capture each and every special moment of us!

Life is so blessed to have someone who cares for you so much!

What people do for living

2009-09-13T14:11:00.005+08:00

Faith

2009-09-13T00:59:00.003+08:00

Faith is life itself
The only means of purifying the heart and of removing anxieties and worries from it is to have complete faith in Allah, Lord of all that exists. In facts, there can be no true meaning to life when one has no faith.
~ Don't Be Sad, 'Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni

Evaporate into the bright sky

2009-09-01T22:42:00.001+08:00

Melt
Flow
Evaporate into the bright sky
~ 365 nirvana, here and now

Escape to the sea

2009-08-15T20:13:00.002+08:00

Yeah!
We are off to the sea!
No plan no itinerary...
Isn't this a best way to relax?!

A glimpse of here.... and there

2009-07-20T22:46:00.002+08:00

Cycle of Life

2009-07-06T01:01:00.008+08:00

A day

2009-05-31T23:14:00.002+08:00

A day to lay back and dream. There is nothing to worry about.

Today... pieces of mind

2009-04-25T21:25:00.019+08:00

Woke up as when I wanted to. Body was fully recharged.

Had all the time for my own. Managed to capture the beautiful moment of blossom plants around the house and practice my water color painting. These are the things that I wanted to do for a long time but have always been considered the least important in 'to do list'.

My niece was surprised to see me at home. She shouted loudly and happily: "Auntie" in front of the gate when she came back from school.

Stress free day. No motivation talk, no unnecessary talk, no call from clients, quiet and peace.

Same old topic that the salon girl was trying to start a conversation with me everytime. "You are so thin. This time evens thinner than the last time I saw you...". I wonder when are they gonna to change to new topic.

Thinking about what's next for everything. The certainty, the uncertainty, the possibility...

It is really a hot day. Suffered from migraine easily by just staying at home working in front of the laptop.

Friends that I missed. But still lazy to send them a SMS or going to see them.

An understanding from a friend. Movie that we planned to watch in cinema has now waited for DVD release and watch at home, as I was busy for the past few weeks.

I am glad for the day!

My Ingredients of Happiness

2009-04-16T00:59:00.003+08:00

Have faith in God
Peace of mind
Being present
Count my blessings
Family and friends
To love and be loved
Seeing things in positive way
Never lost my curiosity
You

Keep Walking...

2009-02-02T23:11:00.005+08:00

'I will not give up [traveling] until I reach the junction of the two seas or [until] I spend years and years in traveling.' - Qur'an 18:60

I like to travel, with or without company, within or outside the country. I enjoyed seeing the world, and be amazed by God's creations. I would never forget how the many 'first time' experiences that really surprised me:

'Flying' high in the sky:-

Time seemed frozen and sky was like the huge cotton candy maker. How I wished I could fly like a bird freely around the clouds ocean.

Snorkeling in the sea:-

Fear that came from the total silent underwater world and the unknown depth of sea was really a good 'Make peace with yourself' lesson.

The snowy white Mount Everest:-

Salute to our mother earth. No matter how advanced technologies are, there is no way human could ever conquer the nature!

And let not forget the part of encounter with people from different walks of life. Or the 'pause to reflect' moments through the journey. Those are priceless and have enriched my life:

It is not the toys but love that bring up happy child!

Live your life passionately and have fun no matter how old you are! Live life the way you want and not as others think you should.

As an ordinary people, there is not much we can do to stop the war. But I do believe that there are efforts we can try to make our life worth living.

Keep walking... in life!

The Lonely Traveler

2008-12-08T22:08:00.003+08:00

If you wonder
When I will be coming back?
When I will be stopping wander around?

I have no idea, perhaps…

The day when I stop missing you

The day my heart no longer aching when I think of you

The day when I forget I am so in love with you

The day when I forget why do I need to run away

Sowing the seed of L∙O∙V∙E

2008-12-08T16:01:00.004+08:00

Few months back, there was one interesting exercise conducted during the workshop I participated. A main word was given and everyone was required to list out 10 words they could relate the word to. The main word was:- LOVE.

‘LOVE’... Perhaps it is one of the tougher life lessons which everyone has to learn. The lesson starts from the time you were born until the time you depart from this world. It exists as fundamental for relationships like family, friendship, lover, belief…etc.

It took me awhile to figure what were the 10words I should put in. If ‘love’ is the seed, what are the nourishments needed and what can I reap from it?! Would it be:

¤ GOD

¤ HUMAN – treat all mankind with love and peace will exists

¤ MOTHER TERESA – representative of the ultimate demonstration of unconditional love

¤ JOY – what you feel when you act out of love

¤ LAUGHTER

¤ TEAR

¤ BALANCE – you need to strike the balance. Too little or too much love, either one will tire your loved ones or will tire your soul

¤ RESPECT

¤ ME – I, me, myself. The 1^st person to fall in love with and the last one that you will never give up loving is you, yourself.

¤ HEART – It is not love if it does not truly come from your heart

For your seed of love, what are your 10 nourishments or fruits that you will reap from it?

Longing

2008-09-13T07:30:00.001+08:00

Since the day you left…

The vacant couch has been so cold. It is so alone in the living room with its coldness.

The TV was obsessively playing the movie you love. That black & white movie you used to watch over and over.

The remote control and books are kinda pissed off that you left them behind. They are covering themselves with dust now.

The phone is completely silence now. It refused to ring ever since it lost the language of touch from you.

The floor lamp’s light is on at 745pm everyday still. It has prepared to welcome you home at night.

The tap was dripping the melancholy tears days and nights. It sounds akin to the rhythm of a sad love song.

The Christmas tree was upset in the store room. It knew this will be the place it celebrates the coming Christmas.

I think they are longing for you…

Longing for you to come back…

Love, me

p.s. Happy Birthday

The End of Chapter I

2008-09-01T09:48:00.001+08:00

Thanks for the paths we crossed
Numberless moments of togetherness

packed in 6 boxes of memories
May you rest in peace

My dearest

Soundtracks

2008-08-31T02:54:00.000+08:00

If life is a movie of its own, these are the soundtracks of my movie. Songs that captured our moments, songs that represented our feelings, songs that made me thought of you…

You don’t know my name – the trip where the rains never stop, and we were caught in the world of our own. The one you loved – the first ‘summer’, the first ‘winter’, the memory of me loving you. Nobody knows – under the starry starry night, there were dreams about the future. Knowing that distance always divides us but it can never separate us. Fly me to the moon – the first time I cried very badly, after you cancelled our second date. It must have been love - those endless nights that I cried myself to sleep. Sadness had been the black hole and I was fallen inside. What a wonderful world – moments of you taught me patiently, loving me unconditionally, opened my eyes to this wonderful world. Jika kau bercinta lagi – sat up in the night. Middle of the night.. I wished you to love with your whole-hearted. I love your smile – you turned around and told me: got it! You were so cute! Everything changing – wishing you were here, right here, right now, in the totally strange world. Things in life – breathing the air, tasting the foods… been to the places where you left your footprints. Feeling you, years after… Total escape of the heart – we turned to each others, burst out laughing. It was sign to change, before things are falling apart. Fix you – just when I thought it was over, it wasn’t…. actually. Whether the end is the beginning or the beginning is the end, sometimes you really won’t know. Gemilang – Segalanya, bagaikan impian yang ternyata... that was what I thought, for quite some times I thought I was right. 無需要太多 – Saw you on blue stripe for the first time on that breezy Tuesday morning. You seemed relaxed and told me you were fine. For many many times when I recalled, I was still glad and relief that you told me. Say we’ll be together – when was the last time we kiss? How does it feels? That favourite apple green t-shirt of mine, I had kept it somewhere in the dark. 有空來坐坐 - you told me you’ve found our song, the song that described us the best. Couldn’t help but weeping till the eyes were swollen after listened to it for the whole night. Silly me!

Sailing

2008-07-24T14:02:00.000+08:00

Sailing... in the middle of the sea

I found my long lost tranquility

Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn

2008-05-11T12:01:00.001+08:00

Bless in disguise

2008-05-11T11:40:00.000+08:00

There were times
I tried to make things worked
I tried to be the best I could
I tried to believe and have faith
I thought we would last

But finally
It took me years to understand
You were just the traveler
In my journey of life

Never expected this
But when the time came
We just have to say goodbye

Happy Feet

2008-04-14T16:26:00.000+08:00

Wanted to try the fish spa for a long time. Thanks to the birthday girls, finally got the chance during their birthday celebration. Ya know, not easy to gather everyone these days since no longer working together and each of us are busy with our stuff.

How was it?! We were giggling and excited like child when we put our feet down the pool. It might look scary & disgusting for those who haven’t tried it. But we had a really good time and the skin gets smoother after the 1/2 hour session – indeed.

Bee my valentine...

2008-02-16T16:50:00.000+08:00

Some said they love too little

Some said they love too much

I said I didn't know

Until I found you...

Are you ready?

2008-01-27T20:35:00.000+08:00

It's a brand new year!

2008-01-11T11:37:00.000+08:00

Oh yeah, it’s already the 10th day of 2008! Time flies when you are busy or when you don’t really pay attention to it.

Last year was a turbulent year for me. Life was slightly challenges with frustration and heartbroken situations. Lessons learnt along the way, perhaps not all, but at least few that God (the real ones! not the ‘one’ we used to make fun of!) wants me to know at the moment:

You know who you can rely on or who is your friend when they meant what they said. Or they just simply stand by your when you needed help. They stepped in when the moments you felt disappointed about someone, fed up about all those promises that made but never came true! They taught you the value of friendship. It’s not about ‘saying it’, but simply ‘just be’. (I’m not going to mention your name just in case others may feel jealous on your… thank you ya!)

Living in other’s orbits just couldn’t work and never meant for you. It’s time to look within and get back to your own orbit!

By this year, there are few things I put in plan:

World peace! Perhaps we can contribute our part by putting efforts to understand others better. Especially we have the chance when we are living in the multi races country.

Less worries, enjoy more! Wasted much times worried the outcomes but forgot to enjoy during the journey in the past. Living in the moment counts…

Let enrich the blossom relationships and walk out from the relationship that no longer serve a meaning in my life!

DIGITAL CAMERA! In case you want to buy me one, SLR type will really surprise me…

Wishing 2008 to be a better year for me and for you too… Gambateh ya, my dear friends!

Happy New Year 2008!!

2008-01-02T06:10:00.000+08:00

Thanks for visiting my blog, still in the midst of managing my first blog ever…
Anyway, happy New Year 2008!